Television scientist Adam Hart Davis has travelled to Africa with a Warwickshire-based international development charity to help tackle one of the most common causes of death in poor countries.

The presenter, whose TV credits include Scientific Eye and Tomorrow's World, visited Kenya with Practical Action to highlight the enormous death toll caused by breathing in fumes from cooking fires in the home.

The Rugby-based charity claims this type of smoke inhalation kills more people than malaria and is one of the biggest causes of death and disease in poor countries, killing around 1.6 million people each year, mostly women and children.

A spokesman for Practical Action said many households in poor countries were exposed to levels of dangerous pollutants around 100 times higher than recommended limits.

Mr Hart Davis visited households in Kenya affected by smoke from cooking fires and looked at simple, low-cost solutions developed by Practical Action such as smoke hoods which can reduce fumes by around 75 per cent.

The charity is urging the Government to champion an UN-led Global Action Plan to tackle the problem and save millions of lives.

* For more information about the campaign visit www.practicalaction.org or call 01926 634400.